Privacy commission orders Globe to go strict on SIM card replacements

The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has ordered Globe Telecom Inc. to enforce more stringent verification protocols in changing lost or damaged prepaid subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

Reports have it that Globe subscriber fell prey to identity theft that, as a result, their bank accounts were breach.

Heeding the NPC directive, Globe committed to enforce a 24-hour lag in activating newly-replaced SIM cards of customers whose mobile phones were lost or stolen, the NPC said in a statement Tuesday.

The 24-hour delay will be imposed if the prepaid subscriber is unable to present the SIM bed or to provide proof of identification in case the customer is a GCash client, the commission said.

This is supposed to enable prepaid subscribers, who may be likely victims of SIM swap scheme, to have ample time to respond to SIM replacement text notifications and give them the chance to cancel malicious requests and deter a mobile identity theft in progress.

In processing SIM replacement requests, NPC said Globe will require subscribers to present government-issued ID cards or the original SIM bed as proof of ownership.

“Globe assures its customers that their personal data is protected. This is why we have instituted tighter security measures when it comes to change SIM requests,” Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo said in a separate statement.

“The process now has a more rigorous verification process to ensure that the request is legitimate and that the new SIM is really owned by the customer who requested for it,” he said.

Castelo noted the process includes a system check that utilizes existing CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or network information and verification tools.

Globe also requires customers to fill out forms and mandatory CRM notes to document requests. Customers seeking to change SIM card will undergo post-checking via Q&A.

Verification guidelines are in place with a limit to allowable incorrect answers to questions.

In the past, the only security measure Globe provided was requiring the subscriber to show an affidavit of loss.

“We hope to see all telco operators in the country enforcing stringent measures to protect the privacy interests of their subscribers not just against mobile identity thieves but against all sorts of mobile fraudsters. Fraudsters thrive by being one step ahead of the game,” NPC chairman Raymund Enriquez Liboro said.

The NPC defines SIM swapping as a modus operandi fraudsters employ to obtain from a telco a replacement SIM card that does not belong to them and then use the number for fraudulent activities.

Liboro called on the public to stop “oversharing” personal information on social media and with people they barely know. —VDS, GMA News